Picture Tree International has boarded international sales and debuted the trailer for Miia Tervo’s upcoming comedy “The Missile,” set to world premiere at Göteborg’s just-announced Nordic Competition.
Produced by Finland’s Kaisla Viitala and Daniel Kuitunen (Elokuvayhtio Komeetta) and co-produced by Estonia’s Johanna Paulson and Evelin Penttilä (Stellar Film), the film will be distributed in Scandinavia by Aurora Studios. Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Tommi Korpela, Pyry Kähkönen and Jarkko Niemi are also in the cast.
Tervo’s second feature after the award-winning “Aurora” – which opened the Swedish fest back in 2019 – teases a “uniquely crafted mix of political satire, heartfelt comedy and kitchen-sink drama, rooted in Northern brevity and melancholy,” according to its description.
Starring Oona Airola (pictured above in a first-look image), the film kicks off in Finkand’s Lapland in 1984, when an unexpected Soviet missile incident disrupts the tranquil life of single mother Niina.
Soon, she joins a...
Produced by Finland’s Kaisla Viitala and Daniel Kuitunen (Elokuvayhtio Komeetta) and co-produced by Estonia’s Johanna Paulson and Evelin Penttilä (Stellar Film), the film will be distributed in Scandinavia by Aurora Studios. Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Tommi Korpela, Pyry Kähkönen and Jarkko Niemi are also in the cast.
Tervo’s second feature after the award-winning “Aurora” – which opened the Swedish fest back in 2019 – teases a “uniquely crafted mix of political satire, heartfelt comedy and kitchen-sink drama, rooted in Northern brevity and melancholy,” according to its description.
Starring Oona Airola (pictured above in a first-look image), the film kicks off in Finkand’s Lapland in 1984, when an unexpected Soviet missile incident disrupts the tranquil life of single mother Niina.
Soon, she joins a...
- 1/9/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Miia Tervo’s “The Missile,” an absurdist dramatic comedy based on the real-life story of a Soviet missile landing in Finnish Lapland in 1984, took home the top prize Thursday at the Finnish Film Affair, an annual industry event running parallel to the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy.
“The Missile” was one of five fiction feature works in progress that were pitched to an audience of industry guests in Helsinki on Sept. 21, during the Finnish Film Affair’s showcase of local and regional projects. The sophomore feature of Finnish director Tervo, known for the female-centered romantic comedy “Aurora,” the film is produced by Kaisla Viitala and Daniel Kuitunen of Helsinki-based Elokuvayhtiö Komeetta, with Stellar Film co-producing.
“The Missile” tells the empowering story of an abused single mother working at a small-town newspaper who gets drawn into the investigation surrounding the missile crash, which upends life in a small northern village.
“The Missile” was one of five fiction feature works in progress that were pitched to an audience of industry guests in Helsinki on Sept. 21, during the Finnish Film Affair’s showcase of local and regional projects. The sophomore feature of Finnish director Tervo, known for the female-centered romantic comedy “Aurora,” the film is produced by Kaisla Viitala and Daniel Kuitunen of Helsinki-based Elokuvayhtiö Komeetta, with Stellar Film co-producing.
“The Missile” tells the empowering story of an abused single mother working at a small-town newspaper who gets drawn into the investigation surrounding the missile crash, which upends life in a small northern village.
- 9/22/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The Helsinki showcase has become a must-attend event for the Nordic industry.
Miia Tervo’s absurdist comedy drama The Missile walked away with the €3,000 prize for the best fiction project award at Finland’s Finnish Film Affair, which draws to a close today (September 22) in Helsinki.
The Missile is now in post-production. It is set in 1984 in Finnish Lapland, where a single mother of two children is trying to get over her violent ex-husband. She finds herself working at a local newspaper, as reports come in that a Soviet Union missile has shot across the Finnish border.
The project is...
Miia Tervo’s absurdist comedy drama The Missile walked away with the €3,000 prize for the best fiction project award at Finland’s Finnish Film Affair, which draws to a close today (September 22) in Helsinki.
The Missile is now in post-production. It is set in 1984 in Finnish Lapland, where a single mother of two children is trying to get over her violent ex-husband. She finds herself working at a local newspaper, as reports come in that a Soviet Union missile has shot across the Finnish border.
The project is...
- 9/22/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
One frosty December day in Finnish Lapland almost 40 years ago, a Soviet missile streaked across the border and landed on the outskirts of Lake Inari. The incident rattled locals’ nerves and set off an international media firestorm, as journalists from across the globe raced to the remote Nordic region. Some speculated that the threat of nuclear annihilation wasn’t off the table for a small country sitting in the shadow of its massive, war-mongering neighbor — even though the reporters seemed to be providing most of the fireworks.
Finnish filmmaker Miia Tervo (“Aurora”) gives her own distinctive spin to these events in “The Missile,” a sophomore feature that’s being presented this week at the Finnish Film Affair in Helsinki. An absurdist dramedy about (international) borders and (personal) boundaries, the film pitches political satire against heartfelt comedy as it tells the empowering story of an abused single mother who gets drawn...
Finnish filmmaker Miia Tervo (“Aurora”) gives her own distinctive spin to these events in “The Missile,” a sophomore feature that’s being presented this week at the Finnish Film Affair in Helsinki. An absurdist dramedy about (international) borders and (personal) boundaries, the film pitches political satire against heartfelt comedy as it tells the empowering story of an abused single mother who gets drawn...
- 9/19/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Hanna Bergholm and writer Ilja Rautsi reunite for dark horror fantasy about motherhood.
Goodfellas (formerly Wild Bunch International) has boarded sales for Nightborn, Hanna Bergholm’s follow-up to horror hit Hatching.
Nightborn is currently being financed and packaged for a 2024 shoot. Hatching screenwriter Ilja Rautsi is reunited with Bergholm to write the original script.
Daniel Kuitunen of Finland’s Komeetta (Maria’s Paradse) will produce. Co-producers on board include Noemie Devide from Goodfellas in France; and Alain de La Mata and Christopher Granier-Deferre for the UK’s BlueLight.
Nightborn – described as “a dark horror fantasy” – is set over one year...
Goodfellas (formerly Wild Bunch International) has boarded sales for Nightborn, Hanna Bergholm’s follow-up to horror hit Hatching.
Nightborn is currently being financed and packaged for a 2024 shoot. Hatching screenwriter Ilja Rautsi is reunited with Bergholm to write the original script.
Daniel Kuitunen of Finland’s Komeetta (Maria’s Paradse) will produce. Co-producers on board include Noemie Devide from Goodfellas in France; and Alain de La Mata and Christopher Granier-Deferre for the UK’s BlueLight.
Nightborn – described as “a dark horror fantasy” – is set over one year...
- 5/9/2023
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
For such a small and lightly populated region, the Nordics have been delivering an impressive number of critical darlings from a wide range of filmmakers. Nordic features hit a milestone this year, with three Cannes prize-winning films, Valdimar Jóhannsson’s “Lamb,” Juho Kuosmanen’s “Compartment No. 6” and Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” along with Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s documentary “Flee,” among the 15 on the Oscar shortlist, with the last two getting multiple noms.
Sundance also hosted a record number of Nordic movies, such as Alli Haapasalo’s “Girl Picture,” which picked up the Audience Award in the World Dramatic section, while more pics are in the pipeline at the Berlinale.
For decades, Sweden, Denmark and, to a lesser extent, Norway, were considered the top purveyors of internationally successful movies with helmers including Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, Susanne Bier, Roy Andersson, Trier and Ruben Ostlund, taking...
Sundance also hosted a record number of Nordic movies, such as Alli Haapasalo’s “Girl Picture,” which picked up the Audience Award in the World Dramatic section, while more pics are in the pipeline at the Berlinale.
For decades, Sweden, Denmark and, to a lesser extent, Norway, were considered the top purveyors of internationally successful movies with helmers including Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, Susanne Bier, Roy Andersson, Trier and Ruben Ostlund, taking...
- 2/12/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Charades has come on board “Hit Big”, a dark humor-laced crime film set in Spain and directed by critically acclaimed Finnish filmmaker, Jukka-Pekka Valkeapaa (“They Have Escaped”).
Currently in post production, the film is being presented at the work-in-progress sidebar of Goteborg Festival’s Nordic Film Market. On the ground in Goteborg is Daniel Kuitunen, who is producing the movie through his Helsinki-based banner Komeetta.
“Hit Big” revolves around Marjaleena, a 60-year-old, boozed-up former beauty pageant star who left Finland for Spain’s Costa del Sol where she runs Bar Belle, once a popular spot for Finnish tourists, with her handyman Mikko. One day, they hear that Marjaleena’s husband, Worm, will be released after 20 years in prison and is planning a dream life with his cell-mate lover thanks to the stashed proceeds of a major heist. Feeling betrayed, Marjaleena sets off to get her share of the millions.
The...
Currently in post production, the film is being presented at the work-in-progress sidebar of Goteborg Festival’s Nordic Film Market. On the ground in Goteborg is Daniel Kuitunen, who is producing the movie through his Helsinki-based banner Komeetta.
“Hit Big” revolves around Marjaleena, a 60-year-old, boozed-up former beauty pageant star who left Finland for Spain’s Costa del Sol where she runs Bar Belle, once a popular spot for Finnish tourists, with her handyman Mikko. One day, they hear that Marjaleena’s husband, Worm, will be released after 20 years in prison and is planning a dream life with his cell-mate lover thanks to the stashed proceeds of a major heist. Feeling betrayed, Marjaleena sets off to get her share of the millions.
The...
- 2/4/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
With every fest edition there has been a rich component dedicated to music – celluloid go hand and hand with musical notes hence the music biopic are often welcomed. Most are known entities but if Anna Paavilainen‘s sophomore feature is included here, or Rotterdam or the Berlinale there’ll need to be some context needed to fully get into Kikka!. Starring Sara Melleri in a decade-spanning, head strong personality portrait, the Finnish pop singer was compared to Samantha Fox. Produced by Daniel Kuitunen (who brought a pair of Finn-tastic side-splitting shorts to the fest in Fucking Bunnies and Are You Hungry?…...
- 11/23/2021
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Pop singer Kikka, a.k.a. Kirsi Hannele Viilonen, who passed away in 2005 at just 41 years old, will finally get her due in the upcoming biopic being produced by Helsinki’s Komeetta. Founded by producers Daniel Kuitunen and Kaisla Viitala, the production company’s slate already includes Zaida Bergroth’s “Maria’s Paradise,” shown in Toronto in 2019, and J-p Valkeapää’s comedy “Hit Big,” currently in development.
The Finnish answer to the likes of Samantha Fox or Sabrina, as she was often referred to during the first years of her tumultuous career, quickly grabbed the public’s attention with her playful songs and a highly sexualized image. Although still best known in her native country, there are universal themes to her story, Viitala tells Variety.
“‘Kikka!’ is more than a biopic – it’s a story about an aging sex symbol, about friendship and loneliness. I think these are all universal topics,...
The Finnish answer to the likes of Samantha Fox or Sabrina, as she was often referred to during the first years of her tumultuous career, quickly grabbed the public’s attention with her playful songs and a highly sexualized image. Although still best known in her native country, there are universal themes to her story, Viitala tells Variety.
“‘Kikka!’ is more than a biopic – it’s a story about an aging sex symbol, about friendship and loneliness. I think these are all universal topics,...
- 9/22/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
by Peter Belsito
This is a dark somewhat surreal comedy from Helsinki Finland is of a boring middle aged guy, Raimo, whose life is upended when his new apartment complex next door neighbors are devil worshiping sex cultists.
The film follows him as he tries to avoid them but is slowly drawn into their uncomfortable (but attractive) circle.
Middle class life will never be the same.
The new neighbor guy is Maki, very nice and considerate, always on the lookout for new friends. Being oblivious to Raimo’s subtle hints to keep his distance, Maki volunteers to be his squash partner.
Trying to avoid sharing his squash slot with the persistent cult leader Maki, Raimo ends up living in a lie that gets him into trouble.
“Fucking Bunnies” is a short film about squash, friendship, the educated middle class’ feeling of lost security, and their efforts to overcome an unexpected rush of strange feelings,...
This is a dark somewhat surreal comedy from Helsinki Finland is of a boring middle aged guy, Raimo, whose life is upended when his new apartment complex next door neighbors are devil worshiping sex cultists.
The film follows him as he tries to avoid them but is slowly drawn into their uncomfortable (but attractive) circle.
Middle class life will never be the same.
The new neighbor guy is Maki, very nice and considerate, always on the lookout for new friends. Being oblivious to Raimo’s subtle hints to keep his distance, Maki volunteers to be his squash partner.
Trying to avoid sharing his squash slot with the persistent cult leader Maki, Raimo ends up living in a lie that gets him into trouble.
“Fucking Bunnies” is a short film about squash, friendship, the educated middle class’ feeling of lost security, and their efforts to overcome an unexpected rush of strange feelings,...
- 1/27/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Teemu Niukkanen’s short film “Fucking Bunnies” follows a middle-aged Finnish man, Raimo, living a comfortable middle-class life with his wife in the suburbs of Helsinki. However, his bubble bursts when a Satan-worshipping sex cult moves in next door and the cult leader, Maki, turns out to be a very nice, considerate guy. When Maki volunteers to be Raimo’s squash partner, Raimo is forced to live a lie that gets him in trouble. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below.
Read More: 10 Surprises and Hidden Gems from the 2017 Sundance Lineup
“I enjoy comedy born from the collision between the everyday and the bizarre,” says Niukkanen. “Those moments where social codes are pushed to their limits, almost to the breaking point. Our basic human need for normality is extremely strong and I love to witness the struggle people are ready to go through just to maintain the status quo.
Read More: 10 Surprises and Hidden Gems from the 2017 Sundance Lineup
“I enjoy comedy born from the collision between the everyday and the bizarre,” says Niukkanen. “Those moments where social codes are pushed to their limits, almost to the breaking point. Our basic human need for normality is extremely strong and I love to witness the struggle people are ready to go through just to maintain the status quo.
- 1/9/2017
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
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